Number 6

Don't even joke about that.

To be clear: at no point have I personally made any doom-and-gloom, game-over, the-end-is-nigh posts in either of these threads. I don’t claim to know for a certainty how this will play out, though I suspect it will probably be a minor blip and things will continue as usual…until the next scandal. But if my believing that it is in fact a mistake to take a cavalier attitude towards these scandals as at some point…whether it’s now or in the future…this kind of scandal must have some kind of appreciable affect on CGC’s business and the hobby makes me “arrogant”…well, so be it, I guess I’ll just have to own it.

I saw that post. I also saw the two posts over in the label-swap thread from members who were contemplating making big CGC purchases but are now holding off. I also saw the post (don’t remember which thread) of a seller getting panicked questions from potential buyers about whether the slabs he was offering were tampered with. But back to the post you quoted: so that’s proof that CGC has created an infallible business for which no scandal will take down…even though mikenyc’s previous post regarding corporate involvement actually suggests there will continue to more such scandals. It’s been noted before that comic collectors - and CGC comic collectors in particular - tend to behave like “crack-addicts”. So the way CGC is enabled to continue this Teflon business model is because collectors behave in a way that’s characteristic of someone who acts against their own best interests and better judgement? Is that type of relationship between business and customer really indefinitely sustainable? Incidentally, I know what the answers to my questions are….or at least, what the answers should be. I just wondered if the collectors and flippers who are whistling past a graveyard realize it and would be honest about it.

Since you’re fond of repeatedly posting “business-as-usual” and “nothing-to-see” I would like to ask: It’s clear that you don’t think that these two scandals in as many months, which cut to the heart of the service CGC offers, are going to have any meaningful impact on their business or market share, but is there ANY amount or degree of scandal in a given period of time that you could foresee having a negative impact on CGC’s business and their place in the market? Or are you of the conviction that CGC, in creating a business to seal children’s disposable cartoon pamphlets in between two pieces of plastic has somehow managed to create the perfect, indestructible business model for which no amount of scandal, incompetence, dishonesty or bafoonery can have any impact on their business at all?

Man, you think there’s hair and debris in the slabs NOW….

Sounds like their "secure facility" was just one step above working out of their mom's garage.

Ok, so I'm not the only one who read that response and it gave them pause. So to make sure I understand this correctly: CGC completely screwed up delivering on the most basic aspect of their guarantee (the book in the holder is actually what's represented by the label), and they now have the book in their possession that you paid for....and now you have to provide documentation on what you paid for it? I can understand maybe asking for it, but making it a requirement before the process can go any further? And if for some reason you don't have documentation, that's it? You're SOL because there's no way your word would ever be good enough? I personally make it a practice to try and hold on to receipts and packing slips that show what I paid for something. But there are a couple of dealers that I've purchased from that are so old-school that they don't include any kind of paperwork with my purchase and the email correspondence is long gone. And if buying at a con I could easily see a situation where receipts might get misplaced. I agree, I would be tempted to start demanding my property back.

You’re too laser-focused on keys, “keys” and the usual flipper-bait . I can tell you what I wasn’t looking at: She-Hulk #1, which is what you were complaining about earlier. The problem isn’t that what I was looking was “insanely hard to get”, apparently the problem is that I’m not looking at stuff that’s insanely available and/or has been riding on a bunch of movie-hype speculation the last couple of years. You’re trying to paint with too broad a brush. ‘If it went for a strong price, well it must be an über-key or some extremely hard-to-get obscurity’. There’s quite a bit of middle ground between the two. There was some decent material that, while not “key” (at least, not the watered-down definition) and while neither super-common nor ultra-rare, is in demand. I was expecting having to put in some strong bids but the ending prices left me shaking my head. Again. Apparently there’s still a few bidders with eff-you Covid money still out there. But enough from me, back to the regularly scheduled “prices are falling everywhere” discussion.

Nothing I was watching was “insanely hard to get”.

Based on the small sample of Bronze books I had tracking bids on with Clink I don’t see much ease. A couple of the results made it seem like we’re back in 2020/21 again. If the advice is to ‘not spend too much on Bronze’ then it looks like I won’t be buying much.

Thanks, I guess one week is better than three. Still really annoying as I know I'm being trolled by a low-baller and it's probably not going to stop once this non-payment plays out.

And this 3-week grace period includes books that were “won” through a best offer acceptance? Even if the best offer is made through e Bay? I accepted an offer this weekend that hasn’t been paid for and I’m pretty sure it’s a bogus “win”.

CAPTAIN AMERICA Ready For Battle by Alex Ross 27 1/2” by 18 1/2” fine art lithograph print limited to 100 pieces hand numbered and signed by Ross. This is #54 and comes with certificate of authenticity. Brand new and unused. $120 shipped in the US. Shipping via UPS ground.

GENERAL RULES: First clear, unqualified "take it" in the thread wins the book. If attempting to negotiate via PM, after mutual acceptance a clear "take it" must be posted in the thread by you or me Asking questions about item details, picture requests, shipping quotes, negotiating price, etc. does NOT constitute a claim or "dibs" on an item. No members on the HOS or Probation List may participate. I reserve the right to refuse to sell to anyone for any reason. Payment: PayPal, cashiers check or money order. I do NOT accept Friends/Family payments, thus such a method should not be used to renegotiate the price, nor does method of payment have a bearing on price. Payment is expected within 7 days of receiving an invoice. Please allow me to send you an invoice before paying. Returns: Items may be returned within 7 days after receipt if dissatisfied. Buyer pays return shipping unless a significant detail has been overlooked by me. Please contact me with any issues. About Me: I have done deals with about a dozen board members. Here's my eBay feedback as a seller ..........

Funny, there's someone over in the label swap thread arguing the notion that the reholder staff is too incompetent to catch a case that's been fiddled with is inconceivable. Sure about that?

I don't recall a requirement in the HOS rules that has to be one of the aggrieved parties to start a HOS poll. Looking through the Probation/HOS threads I see that you started the HOS poll and did the write-up for Dylanthekid even though I don't see anything in the write-up that indicates you were one of the affected parties. Looks like the events in question involved Polonsky. I also see that Buzz did the poll/write-up for Shoomanfoo even though Catwomancomics was the member who was the one affected. I'm not nominating either one of you to do it. I understand it's a lot of work, and I'm sure trying to figure out a coherent, logical and succinct way of summarizing this dumpster-fire-train-wreck is probably daunting. I'm just saying that I've seen more than one person raise the question of a HOS poll and looking at the rules I don't see any reason why anyone who feels strongly about it has to wait for any of the affected parties to step up and do it. I can understand why those affected would probably be focusing their time and energy on either trying to get their books back or pursue legal action and wouldn't fault them for that.

I need to know where I can buy that poster.

I understand the skepticism, but if he was jabbering non-stop like she said he was, it's not hard to imagine him possibly mentioning the CGC boards like 500 times. Probably with some choice expletives added.

Good lord. Only Mike could to take the golden distraction that is the Label Swap Scandal and manage to surpass it with sheer drama.

I contacted the seller immediately when I opened the box, described the problems and included the above pictures. The seller's immediate response "send it back and I'll give you a refund"...which is good considering he has a no-returns policy on his listing. My reply was 'hang on, the book itself seems to be undamaged and I really want the book, but I've got a question in to CGC to see if this thing can even be reholdered, because trying to hit 9.8 again on regrade for a magazine with a predominantly black cover is going to be too risky. If it can't be reholdered I'll send it back.' I was just trying to give him an immediate heads-up that there was a problem. After Mike answered my question I let the seller know I was going to go ahead and keep the book and send it in to be reholdered. Since he offered a refund for a return I assumed that was his proposed solution and didn't ask for a refund to cover the reholder. I did however let him know that this was going to be an expensive fix for me as I don't have a paid CGC membership so I'm going have to pay $24 just for the privilege of getting a reholder and then the $20 reholder fee and shipping on top of that. (in my first message I pointed out to him that I knew he had overcharged me on the shipping costs) The seller responded by refunding me $20, I'm assuming to cover the reholder as there was no comment along with the refund. So the good news is the seller was willing to make things right and the book itself seems to be ok. But man, it's hard not to be ticked that he was willing to risk damaging a tough-in-grade book with only 5 in 9.8 and 4 in 9.6 just so he could squeeze out an extra $8 on padded shipping cost and sub-standard packaging. And now there's all the additional handling and risk of it traveling to CGC and back. It's a shame, because he's listing several books I'm interested in, I actually had a bid in on another book before this happened ....another CGC magazine too...and was planning to bid again to try and win it. But now that I know how he approaches shipping I think I'm just going to have to pass (assuming he hasn't blocked me already).

Fortunately, the book doesn’t appear to be damaged. Thank you for the response.

Well, opened the box and when I started to unwrap the bubble wrap I could hear pieces of plastic sliding around. Top right corner is smashed and there’s an approx. 2” piece missing off the side of the slab. Well, not “missing”, the broken pieces are inside the slab. Will CGC even reholder this? All 3 of the other corners are secure and the top of the slab isn’t split. I don’t think the inner well could be slid out. It’s an older slab graded 2016 ( according to the label look-up) and it looks like the label is still secured to the inner well, I don’t think it’s been messed with. Is reholder even an option ? @CGC Mike Way to treat a 9.8 magazine.

Preorder page up though no date posted yet. While season 2 and 3 are the ones I’m looking forward to, Horror of Fang Rock is one of my favorite stories (I know I’m in the minority on this) and and like Image of the Fendahl quite a bit too as it’s kind of the last hoorah for Baker gothic.

Yes, it’s slabbed magazine. My recollection is that the magazine slabs are taller than the comic slabs. I suppose he could have angled it into the box but I still don’t see how there would be any room for protection on the ends of the slab. This doesn’t look promising either:

What are their fees? I was looking at them the other day and while I found a lot of "we're better than this venue, we're better than that venue", I for the life of me couldn't find their actual fee structure on their consignment facts page.